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The Godfather
Wright was brought in to World Wrestling Federation (WWF) at the suggestion of his friend The Undertaker. He wrestled briefly at house shows as Sir Charles. The character was hardly used and wasn't able to be developed, and was soon dropped. In January 1992, he was repackaged as Papa Shango, a voodoo practitioner. The character debuted on the February 8, 1992 edition of Superstars, defeating enhancement talent Dale Wolfe. The character carried a skull to the ring billowing smoke and could control arena lights, allowing for strange goings on in the ring, and later could "cast spells" to cause opponents pain and to make them vomit from afar. Papa Shango was thrust into the spotlight almost immediately, running in on the Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice main event at WrestleMania VIII to jump start a feud between himself and Ultimate Warrior. Shango actually missed his cue to run in, hitting the ring late. The finish was supposed to be Sid getting disqualified because of Shango breaking up the pinfall attempt by Hogan after he hit the big legdrop. However, due to Shango getting to the ring late, Sid was forced to kick out of the legdrop to save face. Sid's manager, Harvey Wippleman then jumped on the apron, and the referee signalled for the disqualification at that point as Shango was just getting to the ring. Shango was then involved in a feud with the Ultimate Warrior in the late spring of 1992, where he would cast voodoo spells on his opponent. Despite numerous segments being shown on TV every week (Warrior vomiting, inexplicably bleeding,...), the angle went nowhere, as Warrior challenged Macho Man Randy Savage for the WWF Championship, apparently forgetting about Shango. When Shango was finally set to have a match with Warrior in November 92, Warrior was released from WWF. However, Shango received a title shot against new champion Bret Hart on Saturday Night's Main Event, but was unsuccessful. Wright's final PPV appearance as the Papa Shango character was at the 1993 Royal Rumble (where he was eliminated in under 30 seconds). Shango was seen infrequently on WWF TV afterwards, and following a loss to Jim Duggan in a 1993 King of the Ring qualifying match, he made two final televised appearances against enhancement talent in June and July 1993. During the autumn of 1994, there were rumors that the Papa Shango character would be brought back to participate in a storyline involving Bob Backlund, wherein Shango's voodoo spells would explain the traditionally good-natured Backlund's erratic and villainous behavior. This never came into fruition. Wright would eventually return to the WWF in early 1995 as Kama "The Supreme Fighting Machine", a shoot fighter who joined Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation stable shortly after his debut. He became an immediate part of the stable's feud with The Undertaker, stealing the Undertaker's signature urn at April's WrestleMania XI then having it melted down and formed into a necklace, only to lose it back to him at August's SummerSlam. He was taken off of TV in the fall of 1995, and after an appearance in the 1996 Royal Rumble match, Wright left the company again. Wright was asked to return in 1997, with the original plans being for him to revive the Papa Shango character, but that plan was never completed with the inception of Kane, another supernatural character. Instead he returned as Kama, now billed under his full name, Kama Mustafa, with less emphasis on his shoot fighting background. He was placed into the Nation of Domination, which was in the process of becoming an all black group and on the verge of feuding with the all white Disciples of Apocalypse as well as the all Latino group Los Boricuas; the latter two groups were part of the Nation of Domination at one point and all three feuded with each other as part of a "gang warfare" angle the WWF came up with. Mustafa became increasingly known as "The Godfather" of the Nation, a moniker which would eventually become his official ring name in 1998. He stood with the Nation when Rocky Maivia became the leader shortly after Wrestlemania XIV, standing with Maivia (who officially became The Rock around that time), Mark Henry, D'Lo Brown, and later Owen Hart after he joined the stable in the summer of 1998. In 1998, The Godfather (known to wrestlers as a genuine tough guy) competed in the WWF Brawl for All; which was a strictly voluntary boxing/shoot fighting competition, eventually won by Bart Gunn. On a July 27 episode of RAW is WAR, Wright debuted his "Ho's", during a tag-match, with Nation member Mark Henry against The Road Warriors. The Nation lasted until around September 1998 and officially disbanded in October 1998 when Mark Henry attacked the nations leader The Rock. After the nation split up Wright pursued a successful solo career and took his new persona as "The Godfather" to new levels. The Godfather character was constantly surrounded by "hos" – usually girls from local strip clubs. He would offer his opponents the right to use these girls for "any purpose" if they would forfeit the match to him. He got over and he gained a run with the WWF Intercontinental Championship in April 1999. He was supposed to drop the title to Owen Hart at Over the Edge 1999 but Hart died before the match started whilst entering the ring from the ceiling. As Wright was working the Godfather gimmick the WWF began airing SmackDown! on UPN, drawing the attention of the Parents Television Council (PTC), which claimed the WWF and their programming was inappropriate for prime time television. One of the PTCs complaints was the Godfather's pimp gimmick, and during the ensuing controversies the WWF higher ups began imposing restrictions on what he could say and do, hurting his popularity. During this time The Godfather became something of a tag team specialist, forming teams with Val Venis, Mark Henry, and D'Lo Brown. With the WWF in general being hurt by the PTC's attention, they decided to mock the controversy by creating Right to Censor, a conservative group of wrestlers led by Steven Richards. The Godfather faced Bull Buchanan, Richards' first group member, in which he agreed to give up pimping if he lost. Buchanan defeated The Godfather, who promptly joined the stable and renounced his former ways. He began wearing a shirt and tie to the ring (as was part of Right to Censor's gimmick), became known as "The Goodfather", and began teaming with Buchanan. The duo won the World Tag Team Championship one time before the stable disbanded as the Invasion storyline began. The Godfather had a short revival in 2002, claiming to have gone "legitimate" and formed a legal escort agency. It lasted around four months, but never caught on in the way the original did. Shortly after the 2002 brand split, he was sent to SmackDown! and turned into a villain by dropping the ho's and feuding with Val Venis for a short time. In April 2002, The Godfather who believed to be frustrated after not getting drafted, came out during the "dark match" portion of SmackDown! to attack Val Venis and told the fans to "Stick it!", which got him suspended from May to August 2002. The Godfather's final two appearances reverted him back to his old persona, with the Ho Train in tow. He interrupted the "wedding" of Billy and Chuck in September 12, 2002, which helped lead the tag team into admitting that the entire marriage was a sham and just an attempt to get media attention. The Godfather appeared again the following month on Raw during the Raw Roulette event, where he offered Jerry Lawler and Stevie Richards a night out with his Ho Train to the victor of their match. Wright was released from the WWE in December 2002. He appeared at Vengeance 2005, interrupting Viscera's marriage proposal to Lilian Garcia in order to show Viscera what he would be missing out on if he asked Lillian to marry him. Viscera dropped the proposal and dumped Garcia for The Godfather's hos. Wright next appeared at the Theodore Long and Kristal Marshall wedding ceremony on the September 21, 2007 edition of SmackDown!, where he tried to convince Long and Ron Simmons to go back to the old partying days they had. After they refused, Godfather left the ceremony with his Ho Train, and was accompanied by every male wrestler in attendance and commentator John Bradshaw Layfield, leaving only Mr. McMahon, Jonathan Coachman, Hornswoggle, Gerald Brisco, Pat Patterson, Michael Cole and several Divas behind. Wright reappeared on WWE television during the McMahon family portrait during Raw's 15th Anniversary on December 10, 2007, where he let Hornswoggle join his Ho Train. Wright made a short appearance as The Godfather at the 2013 Royal Rumble as entrant #17. He was eliminated immediately by Dolph Ziggler. Godfather made an appearance on the January 6, 2014 Old School edition of RAW alongside numerous other legends and Hall of Famers. On February 22, 2016, The Godfather was announced as an inductee into the 2016 class of the WWE Hall of Fame. Category:People from Nevada Category:Intercontinental Champions Category:World Tag Team Champions Category:WWE Hall Of Fame Category:American wrestlers Category:Male professional wrestlers